A woman dies every minute of heart disease in America. Yet the stereotypes about heart disease tend to suggest it is something that only affects men.
Think back to the last time you saw a heart disease-related commercial in a glossy magazine. It featured a white man in his 60s, right? It’s not a coincidence. After all, older men still run the country, when you look at the numbers in Congress.
When women of color are involved in medical studies, it gives us opportunities for advanced health care initiatives and makes us a part of the research conversation. Without the inclusion of communities of color in research, breast cancer will continue to be the number-one killer of Hispanic women and the number-two killer of African American women.
A California law that went into effect in 2016 allows pharmacists to prescribe, not just dispense, many forms of birth control. But three years in, only fifteen percent of pharmacies offer the option and too few women know about it.